Mayor Emanuel Announces New City Council Committee Chairmanships

This morning Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a series of new committee chairmanships and a new structure for the city council's Committee on Committees, Rules and Ethics, in the wake of the retirement of Ald. Richard Mell (33rd Ward).

In addition to a series of shifts in committee chairmanships, there will be a new structure governing the Rules Committee. The responsibilities of the Rules Committee will be split; a portion of them will now become the responsibility of the President pro Tempore of the City Council. In addition to the he reallocation of responsibilities, $100,000 will be cut from the budget, which will be used to help fund the proposed Council Budget Office.

The Rules committee will maintain jurisdiction over the Sergeant-at-Arms of the City Council. The Office of the President Pro Tempore will now manage the Legislative Reference Bureau.

"This is a new structure which will provide valuable efficiencies for taxpayers," said Mayor Emanuel. "By leveraging these savings into a Council budget office, we can maximize every taxpayer dollar allocated for Council operations."

In addition to this change, there are several changes in committee chairmanships:

Alderman Michelle Harris (8th) will now chair the Committee on Committees, Rules and Ethics.